BRIGHTON -- This time last year, the Boston Celtics wanted to be more chaotic. They wanted to run around on defense, force steals, and pivot from the standstill, one-on-one defensive style they had employed in years past.
It was a welcome change for both the players and the public. Fans were excited to watch the Celtics play physical and pressure the ball more than normal.
But after a few months, everything shifted. They abandoned the turnover-creating, run-around defense in favor of the old style. Some were upset with the change. They viewed it as Joe Mazzulla and the coaching staff reverting back to old habits. That's not the case.
Everyone has a different basketball philosophy. The Mike Budenholzer Milwaukee Bucks wanted to take away rim attempts, so they ended up allowing a bunch of 3-pointers. The Mike D'Antoni Phoenix Suns wanted to play faster than ever before.
Last year, Mazzulla wanted more chaos. More turnover creation. More possessions spawned by elite defensive pressure. That was the way he wanted his team to win. The way he felt his team had the best chance at winning.
Yet through the first 20 games of the season, the Celtics had a problem: Defensive rebounding. They were only grabbing 66.3% of their defensive rebound opportunities. Had they maintained that mark for the entire year, it would have been the worst defensive rebounding percentage since 1998.
On Monday morning, I asked Mazzulla about basketball philosophies and the importance of changing them. He said you need to be able to adjust on the fly -- both in regard to what those ideals are and how to best achieve them.
"Both. I think last year is a perfect example of that," Mazzulla said before Celtics practice. "We went in with a defensive system, thinking that was good, and we were the worst rebounding team in the history of basketball, and so we had to change. And then we became the best team. So, there's nothing fixed. I mean, you have some certain stuff that you want to get to, but we could say we know our team, but I don't know our team. That's not a bad thing.
"Your team is going to change, and you have to be aware of those changes and build your system around what your team looks like. And so, you have a good idea of that, but guys grow, guys get better, the league changes, and through 10, 15, 20 games, you may see something in your team that you didn't see today, and you just have to be willing to get to that as fast as you can."
From that point onward, the Celtics' defensive rebounding skyrocketed. In their last 62 games, they posted a